Contest Connection
by pixie1989
Summary: A Jason Love story with friendship and laughs...what else can be expected from these crazy friends? Maybe even some drama but you'll have to read to find out what!
1. The Concert

**I don't own Camp Rock or any of the Camp Rock Characters!**

**Chapter One- The Concert**

The noise was almost unbearable! Lottie almost had to put her hands over her ears to cut out the piercing shrieks of the thousands of preteen girls around her.

_Why did I ever agree to this?_ she thought to herself vaguely surprised that she could even hear her own thoughts but then as she looked sideways, her glance landed on the unusually hyperactive 8 year old beside her and smiled. She knew exactly why she had agreed, her cousin Emmie was the closest thing she had to a sister other than her best friend Rina who was sitting on her other side not even bothering to pretend the noise bothered her having already clamped both hands firmly over her ears with her eyes shut!

_...Flashback..._

_Lottie was sitting in the garden of her parents' home under the cherry tree with branches that were heavy under the pale pink flowers. She looked up from her books that were spread on the ground around her when she heard the distinctive giggles of her favourite cousin. Her Aunt, who was her mums sister, and her Uncle were coming over for dinner that afternoon so she knew that meant Emmie would be with them. She smiled as the girl came bounding down the back steps of the ranch style house that Lottie lived in with her parents._

"_Guess what!" the girl hollered as she ran across the grass to throw herself on the ground next to her cousin._

"_I don't know; let me think um...Nate Grey asked you to marry him?" Lottie teased and her cousin went bright red and started spluttering._

"_NO!" Emmie finally managed to gasp out her colour returning somewhat to normal whilst hitting her older cousin playfully on the arm._

"_I'm just kidding Em no need to have a fit!" Lottie rolled her eyes and tickled her cousins' sides lightly._

"_You know that competition I entered a while back?" Emmie continued on determined to get out her news._

_Lottie didn't even need to think hard on that one, Emmie was an obsessive Connect 3 fan `pulling Lottie along for the ride half the time, she had entered a contest a few months ago to win tickets to one of their concerts and had been able to talk of little else ever since. "Vaguely" was all she said in a mildly sarcastic tone which Emmie didn't quite catch._

"_I WON!" was the excited squeal from the little girl next to her who had a huge grin on her face. She was practically wriggling on the ground; well at least dinner was going to be interesting as Lottie suspected they would have a hard time shutting Emmie up today._

_It was at that moment that her mum came out onto the back porch and called them in for dinner. So whilst Emmie babbled on in her ear about how extraordinary the show would be Lottie gathered up her books and they both headed back to the house to wash up before dinner. By the time they had made it back to the house and Lottie had greeted her aunt and uncle she thought she might need some sanity in the form of AIM to her friends after her family left later in the evening. _

_They all sat down in the dining room and then after grace had been said there was very little conversation as they paid homage to Lottie's moms cooking._

"_Well," Lottie's aunt was the first one to break the silence, "I take it my little hellion of a daughter has informed you of her exciting news?" she asked Lottie but the sarcastic comment was delivered with such a huge smile that it was impossible to see it as an insult and if anything Emmie's smile grew wider._

"_Yeah" Lottie said on a slight chuckle, "I think it was the first thing that she said to me!"_

"_Of course, there was something that we wanted to talk to you about to do with the concert!" her uncle joined the discussion, "both Lisa and I have to work on the day of the concert so we can't take Emmie, we have already talked to the coordinator to check it would be ok and if you were willing to it would be great if you could take her? You could take a friend as there are three tickets!"_

"_Are you serious," I asked, my mouth must have been hanging open as my mum made some comment about catching flies, although I rarely admitted it to anyone other than my cousin I was a huge fan of the band I love their music._

"_Absolutely!" said my aunt, "would you fancy it then?"_

"_Yes I would love to, if you don't mind having your cousin take you Em?" Lottie added quickly to make her feel like she was having some say in the conversation although it's hard to know if she heard as she was currently doing a happy dance in her chair yelling Lottie's coming Lottie's coming over and over again. "I guess Rina would come if I asked her!" she said already looking forward to the concert which was in month's time._

"_Cool Rina is coming too this is going to be the best ever!" Emmie stated as she continued to bounce up and down._

_Later that evening Lottie's POV_

_When she logged onto her messenger account she was happy to see that Rina was already online…_

_Storygirl1988: Hey stranger it is so weird not seeing you every day, how r u?_

_Highlandgirl1988: I am fine little miss dramatic, how do you get along without me?_

_Storygirl1988: I substitute you with my 8 year old cousin!_

_Highlandgirl1988: Are saying I'm eight years old? (Sulks)_

_Storygirl1988: That depends, will you scream if I say we have tickets to a Connect 3 concert? (Eyebrow raised in question)_

_Highlandgirl1988: Maybe (Screams) are you being serious?_

_Storygirl1988: Would I be anything less (Crosses fingers behind back)_

_Highlandgirl1988: How did you manage that one they sold out months ago?_

_Storygirl1988: Emmie won the contest…three tickets and no available adults equals you me and Emmie at the concert in LA next month!_

_Highlandgirl1988: This is so cool…are you going to drive down with Emmie?_

_Storygirl1988: Will you fly or catch the bus up here?_

_Highlandgirl1988: I think I'll fly, I always feel ill on the bus!_

_Storygirl1988: Great and I'll have my car so we can get around._

_Highlandgirl1988: Yep, so will you guys stay overnight?_

_Storygirl1988: Think it might be a bit late to make the drive back after we have hung out and met them all_

_Highlandgirl1988: (Screams like an utter fan girl) you mean we actually get to meet the GREY BROTHERS!_

_Storygirl1988: Hey you have Dan no pinching_

_Highlandgirl1988: There my celebrity crushes but Dan is way cuter!_

_Storygirl1988: If you say so you puddle. Lol._

_Highlandgirl1988: What we're actually going on a date tonight, our first since spring break…speaking of which I need to get ready. Email me the details and I will book my flight tomorrow we can sort out where to stay later!_

_Storygirl1988: Fine but I expect a rundown of this fabulous date tomorrow! (Turns green)_

_Highlandgirl1988: Well I suppose you are taking me to Connect 3 concert so I promise tomorrow. Night, night. Xox_

_Storygirl1988: I'll hold you to that…have fun. Night. Xox_

_...End Flashback..._

The girls didn't have to wait long for the lights in the auditorium to go down and then it was time for the concert to begin. The opening act was a girl called Mitchie and there was a surprise in the last song of her set when Shane Grey the Lead Vocalist of Connect 3 came on stage and sang a duet with Mitchie that had half the girls in the audiences awing and the other half shooting death glares. Lottie found that very amusing much to the disgust of some of the girls in her row who were looking at her like she was some kind of traitor. Emmie didn't seem to notice she was too hyped up to notice much although that may have had something to do with all of the sugar she had consumed that afternoon. After the three girls had met up at the airport they had spent their afternoon down by the beach eating ice cream and having fun, their hotel wasn't too far away from the stadium where the concert was being held. There was about a ten minute break after the last song in Mitchie's set and then the boys were running onto the stage smiling and waving to the audience.

"What's up LA?" yelled Nate through his mike but it was still difficult to hear him over the screams. The wide grins on their faces showed just how much they loved to perform.

"It is great to see you all here tonight!" Shane said, "Now as you all know I went back to Camp Rock this summer and as a result the band is trying some new stuff for our new album and switching up some of our old songs!" more screaming followed this announcement, "well we hope that you like it and let's have a great time tonight what do you say?"

The screams reached a point as they played the first notes of the boys' new single Play My Music. As the concert progressed and they played both old and new songs it was easy to see the subtle differences that they were putting in. Their new songs were absolutely amazing because they were blindingly true and no pun on the band name intended but they were easy to connect to. After 2 hours of solid performance the last cords of Goodnight and Goodbye reverberated around the stadium…that was until the screaming started up again Lottie and Rena looked at each other.

"How can they possibly still be able to scream?" Rena mouthed her hands firmly back over her ears to cut out the little banshee next to her who was in hysterics now that the guys had left the stage.

Lottie shrugged and turned to look at Emmie who was still jumping up and down but thankfully not screaming. She looked so happy and Lottie was doubly glad she agreed to bring her cousin to the show. They stayed in their seats until the stands were relatively empty before making their way out towards the souvenir stands in the lobby there was a massive queue but that didn't put the girls off they had a while to wait before they could go backstage any way. As they stood there waiting for the line to move Emmie began to lean into Lottie's side bunching up the fabric of her cousins shirt in one hand. Just as they got to the front Emmie slumped against Lottie apparently asleep.

"Shoot," Lottie muttered as she tried to keep Emmie upright and dig in her purse to pay for the 2 posters and T-Shirt she was buying.

"Let me!" Rina muttered she grabbed the purse from Lottie so she would have two hands to support the little girl with and took over purchasing Lottie's and Emmie's souvenirs before grabbing some for herself. She held onto the plastic sacks and their purses whilst Lottie swung the unconscious Emmie up into her arms. Considering that Lottie only just topped 5 feet in height this was no small feat. The information pack that had come with the girls tickets had told them to return to their seats where they would be collected to be taken back stage.

They had only been sitting down a few moments; Emmie still curled around Lottie when a huge scary looking security guard approached them. "Hey is one of you a Miss Emmie Jacobs?" he said in a deep voice.

"Um yeah that would be this sparked out eight year old, my name is Charlotte Hannon I'm Emmie's cousin and supervising adult and this is my friend Katrina Downs." Lottie had stood up again and as she did so her cousin had wrapped her arms and legs around Lottie like a limpet.

"That's great; do you guys have your passes?"

"Sure thing they are in my purse, do you think you could get them out Rina it doesn't look like Em is going to be letting go any time soon!" Lottie grinned as she tightened her own arms around her cousin and shifted the weight onto her left hip ever so slightly. Rina grinned in response and dug through Lottie's tote bag to find the envelope containing the passes.

"Here you are," she said as she handed them over.

"Perfect!" the man said after checking them quickly, "would you like to follow me please?" he motioned for the girls to keep up before he turned towards the front of the stadium and headed down the aisles to a door in the far corner. He waved a pass card at the electric lock and then pulled the door open, "The boys have just finished the meet and greet and are waiting for you in the green room!" he paused beside a door on the left hand side of the hallway, "I think you guys can probably take it from here, just knock and wait have a good time girls!" he smiled and headed off back down the corridor the way he had just brought them in.


	2. Getting to know you

Before Rina could raise her hand and knock on the door it swung open in front of the with a very enthusiastic Shane Grey filling the doorway, "Hi how are you I am Shane and this is Nate and Mitchie and Jason" he said quickly motioning to the others crowded around the doorway.

Jason had been standing slightly back but when he saw them he stepped forward gently brushing Shane and Nate aside, "Calm down Shane let them get in the room before you ambush them!" he teased, "can't you see she might be tired carrying that kid?" Jason motioned towards Lottie before turning and smiling at her, "do you want a hand, I already had to deal with our sparked out brother a little while ago," he smiled over at the sofa on the other side of the room where the youngest Grey brother Mickey was curled up under a blanket.

Lottie smiled, "Thanks that would be great I didn't realise how heavy she was!" carefully Jason unwound the little girls' arms and legs before carrying her over to the sofa as well.

"I'm sure they can share!" he said as he laid her down the opposite end of the sofa to his brother he unscrambled the blanket wrapped around Mickey and spread it over both of them. He turned around and walked back towards where the others were all standing, "well now they are sorted how about some introductions?" he smiled sweetly at the two girls standing in front of them.

"Right," Lottie smiled back while shaking out her arms to get the feeling back in her fingers, "The unconscious one over there is Emmie the girl who won the competition, my name is Charlotte but everyone calls me Lottie I am Emmie's cousin and this is my best friend Katrina but she prefers Rina!"

"Nice to meet you both and I am sure I will meet Emmie at some point, probably when Mickey kicks her awake or something!" Jason says with a rueful smile.

"I wouldn't be so sure I have shared a bed with that kid and I think I still have bruises!" Rina spoke for the first time grinning ruefully, "but it's probably your ears that are in for abuse when she wakes up and finds out Mickey is here!"

Jason looked at Lottie confused at her friends comment, "What Rina meant by that is she loves your guys music but her favourite Gray brother is Mickey sorry boys!" she chuckled.

"So now that we have met you let me introduce you to these girls!" Nate piped up, "I am sure you realise which one is Mitchie as she was singing but this is Caitlyn!"

Both of the girls grinned and waved slightly, "You have no idea how much we have been looking forward to this," Mitchie said, "we thought Emmie would be coming with her parents but when we were told you were coming Cait and I got a bit hyped up, we don't get much girl talk!" the two smiled enthusiastically as all three of the conscious boys groaned.

"Great we would love to get to know you guys," just then Rina noticed the fan in the corner of the room and made a dash for it "Oh My God this is so good I thought I was going to bake out there this evening!" the others all laughed and wondered over to that side of the room.

"Mm your right Rina that is nice," Lottie hummed slightly as the cooler air washed over her shoulders and neck, "now that I don't feel like I'm going to melt…" her hands went up to her hair and tugged at the elastic bunching her hair in a big not on the back of her head. When she had managed to free the band she released her hair and felt it unfurling down her back like a cape.

"Wow," Caitlyn said as she looked at Lottie who now had her shimmering ebony hair hanging loose and strait all the way to her waist, "your hair is gorgeous! How long did it take to grow?"

"What?" Lottie looked confused, "oh I just forget to get it cut although I am seriously considering it cos it gets kind of annoying!" she had never understood the fascination people seemed to have with her hair.

"Don't do that it looks really cool!" Shane said whilst Nate nodded next to him he elbowed Jason in the side because he was staring bug eyed at Lottie.

"Yeah it really is very beautiful!" he finally said whilst Shane stared at him curiously.

"Thanks I guess!" she smiled at them.

"Hey I have an idea why don't we play twenty questions whilst we wait for the bed bugs to wake up?" said Rina who was giggling at their reactions to Lottie's hair it was almost the same as hers had been when they had fist met at college two years before.

"Sounds good!" Caitlyn said, "We can't wait to learn about you guys!"

"Ok why don't we all sit in a circle?" Nate suggested as they all moved into the middle of the room.

"Who goes first?" Mitchie asked.

"How about we sit in age order youngest to oldest!" suggested Lottie.

"Ok so how old are you Mitchie, Caitlyn and Nate are all 17!" Shane said.

"Well then let's arrange them according to age first then," said Rina "which one of you is the oldest?"

"That would be me!" Mitchie stepped forwards and sat down.

"By two weeks Torres, two weeks!" Nate said sitting down next to her.

"I'm the youngest!" Caitlyn seemed perfectly fine with it as she plopped down on the floor next to Nate who grinned at her.

"Right that means Shane is next to Mitchie!" Rina said as motioned for Shane to sit down.

"What you guys are older than me?" Shane looked disbelieving but sat down anyway.

"Now it's just us!" Rina said, "Lot I think you lose as I know Jason is already 21 and you still have a week to go!" Lottie folded herself on the floor Indian style next to Shane facing Caitlyn.

"Your 21 next week, that is not fair!" Shane pouted "I thought you were the same age as Mitchie!" Lottie laughed at the petulant look on the pop stars face and Mitchie poked him in the side before whispering something in his ear, there was a mumbled "sorry" from Shane and he kissed Mitchie on the cheek grabbing her hand in his.

"Ok," Jason said, "So which of us is the older one?" he asked Rina.

"I beat you by a month so you are next to Lottie and I am next to Caitlyn!" Rina looked triumphant as she dropped down onto the floor a very self satisfied smile on her face.

"Right I am first!" Caitlyn chimed in, "Where do you two live?"

"I am from San Francisco" Lottie said with a smile "but I am studying at NYU with Rina that's how we met two years ago!"

"Like Lottie said NYU for college time and the rest of the year I live in San Diego" Rena added.

"That's cool so you guys met up for the concert here in LA then, how long are you staying or are you leaving tonight?" Nate asked next.

"I flew in from San Diego and Lottie drove down from San Fran with Emmie, we have a hotel tonight but have to leave in the morning!" Rena said looking sad, "We won't see each other until school starts again in the fall either!"

"That's too bad you guys seem so close!" Mitchie said, "When the tour finishes Cait was supposed to be going back to boarding school cos her parents travel a lot but she is coming to live with me in New Jersey! I would miss her so much if she had to go back to school in Chicago!" she looked sad for the girls, "What do you guys study anyway?"

"We both Major in Creative Writing and I am taking a Minor in Spanish" Lottie told her.

"My Minor is in History!" Rina added.

"That sounds interesting," Shane said, "I sometimes wonder what college would be like! You said Lottie drove down so what kind of car do you drive?"

"Very boring actually I drive a Jeep!" Lottie blushed, "I am into hiking and camping so big practical car!"

"That's cool though," Shane said, "Jason and I share a Jeep and when Nate gets his licence so will he!"

"Really not the car I would expect you guys to choose!" Lottie smiled, "Now it's my turn. Who are your favourite authors? Or maybe I should have asked if you guys like to read?"

"Well I love to read my favourite is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!" Caitlyn said.

"I like His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman!" Nate put in.

"Kathy Reich's murder mysteries!" Mitchie grinned.

"Bloodthirsty brat," Shane teased her, "Clive Cussler for me!"

"You know its Susan Balough for me!" Rina said.

"Um I'm not sure I read the Twilight books recently though and thought they were good!" Jason said.

"Moving very swiftly on…"Rina cut across Lottie, "trust me don't get her started on fantasy novels it is her favourite genre!" she said to Jason "so it is your turn now Jason what do you want to know?"

"Well um what is your favourite type of food?" Jason asked.

"I can't get enough of Mexican!" said Caitlyn "now I am hungry thanks Jase!"

"I would have to agree with Caitlyn on Mexican food." Said Nate who rubbed his stomach.

"My favourite is Paella!" Mitchie chirped "what I am Spanish let a girl enjoy her roots!" she said in return to the curious looks the rest of them were throwing her.

"Well I guess I have to be boring and say Pizza!" Shane said in his turn.

"Don't worry Shane I am almost equally boring my obsession is Chinese food very generic I am afraid!" said Lottie with a grin.

"Mine has to be Ice Cream!" said Jason a huge grin spread across his face.

"At least your honest!" said Rina as she giggled, "my favourite food has to be anything cooked by Lottie she is amazing and I am so lucky to live with her at college if I didn't I would probably be living off microwave meals!"

"You can cook?" Caitlyn asked Lottie.

"Yeah a bit it has always been a hobby and it is nicer to cook for more than just yourself," she grinned, "there is an upside as well, if I cook Rina has to do the dishes!"

"Trust me if you had tasted her cooking you wouldn't complain about doing the dishes!" she grinned as her friend blushed, "my question is…who takes the longest in the mornings?"

"No contest definitely Shane!" said Nate who then started to laugh which the others joined in with when they saw the _so what_ look on Shane's face.

It was at that point that they heard a yelp from the direction of the sofa, it looked like the two youngest present were about to make themselves known!


	3. what's a kid to do?

Ok so this is not the best chapter that I have ever written but I needed to put in a bit of a bridge so tell me what you think!

I don't own any of the camp rock charectors....

Chapter 3

The group in the centre of the room sat and watched as the scene unfolded in front of them.

Mickey sat bolt upright on the sofa almost instantly saying, "It wasn't me!" in response to the bang he had heard. His eyes swung around the room and then landed on Emmie who was trying to extricate herself from the prison of the blanket as she sat in a pile on the floor. "Who is she and why does she have my blanket?" he asked pointing at Emmie who looked up with eyes like saucers the expression could only be likened to a deer that was caught in the headlights.

"Hey Mickey that is not very polite kiddo!" Jason said frowning slightly at his youngest brother.

"Sorry!" Mickey looked embarrassed about being called out by Jason so he slid of the sofa to help Emmie untangle herself from the blanket, "Hi my name is Mickey, what's your name?" he asked helping the girl onto her feet whilst offering a grin that gave Jason's a run for its money in sweetness.

"My name is Emmie." She returned the smile timidly obviously star struck.

"Oh cool you're the girl that won the contest to meet my brothers it's nice to meet you!" he hugged her and Lottie giggled which made Jason look at her with raised eyebrows.

"I think Emmie might faint if your brother keeps that up!" she whispered to Jason which made him grin and chuckle as he looked at the slightly flushed 8 year old girl.

"Hey Mickey you gonna keep the guest of honour to yourself or do we get to join in?" asked Shane as he got up from the floor and walked over to them. "Hi Emmie it is great to meet you, did you have fun at the concert?" he bent down and gave her a quick hug before ushering the two kids over towards the circle.

"Yes thank you it was amazing!" she grinned happily as she looked at the others in the room. She sat very close to Lottie's side squeezed in beside Shane. Frankie unceremoniously dumped himself in Jason's lap and cuddled into his brothers' shoulder. After seeing that Emmie edged herself closer and closer to her cousin until she had crawled into Lottie's lap half hiding under the curtain on her hair curling up with her arms wound around her cousins waist. Lottie unconsciously started to rub small circles on Emmie's back gently soothing the tension in the little girl who was still over tired.

"Hey guys how about we order some pizza I am starving and we should really eat especially Nate!" said Jason.

"Yeah pizza that sounds amazing!" Shane whooped at the thought of food.

"I swear you never stop eating Shane Grey!" Caitlyn said in a disgusted tone.

"Hey!" he sounded slightly offended, "I am growing I need that food!"

"Keep telling yourself that Grey! You're like a human trash can I wouldn't touch half the stuff you eat!" she retorted high fiving Nate as Shane pouted turning to Mitchie for support but she was practically rolling on the floor giggling.

"Ok um maybe we should get going if you guys are going to get some dinner!" Lottie said as she started to try and stand up.

"No don't go!" Jason looked slightly panicked, "I didn't mean it like that I meant we should all eat, have you had dinner? Cos we would love for you guys to stay!" He placed a hand on Lottie's arm to keep her on the floor next to him.

"Oh right," she smiled at him and he felt his heart kick slightly in his chest, "We haven't actually eaten anything since lunchtime...Emmie has had some cotton candy and stuff though."

"Then we insist that you stay plus you can't abandon us to the boys just yet!" Caitlyn grinned at them.

"We would love to stay!" Rina said grinning behind Jason and Lottie's back at Caitlyn and Mitchie and they shared a conspiratorial look based on the interchange between Jason and Lottie not that the other two boys seemed to notice anything.

"Hey Mickey why don't you and Emmie get to know each other whilst we wait for the pizza to get here?" Jason suggested to his little brother who was looking more awake now.

"Ok come on Em lets go over there to talk these guys will just be boring anyway!" he said grabbing Emmie's hand pulling her out of Lottie's lap and over to the far corner of the room to a pile of bean bags.

"Ok so who eats what on Pizza?" Nate asked Lottie and Rina.

"Emmie will eat Margareta but not much else!" Lottie said slightly anxiously, "I will eat anything except chillies and anchovies!"

"Same as Lottie!" said Rina who was answering a message she had just got on her phone.

"Cool so Mickey and Emmie can share and how about we get one pepperoni and a chicken and bacon for the rest of us to share?" Nate asked the group. He was met with a round of yes's and ok's from the others before he smiled and left the room to send the order.

"So Ri is it Dan?" Lottie asked.

"Yeah sorry about that!" she said as she slipped the phone back into the bag beside her.

"I seriously don't know how you guys keep it together to pass classes you are attached to that thing!" Lottie teased her best friend.

"You're just jealous!" Rina stuck out her tongue at Lottie who did the same much to the amusement of the others in the room.

"You guys really aren't very self conscious are you?" Caitlyn asked whilst she was laughing.

"Nope not really!" Lottie giggled, "We are who we are and if people don't like it then tough, it's their loss not ours!"

"I think that is great!" said Mitchie, "So Rina is this Dan person your boyfriend then?" When Rina nodded smiling she went on to ask, "How long have you guys been together and how did you meet?"

"We have known each other for years, we met in high school but we didn't get together until just over a year ago!" Lottie was laughing out loud now.

"What's so funny Lottie?" asked Caitlyn with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh it's just how they ended up together is so funny there is nothing quite like a seven year old for breaking the ice!" she gasped in reply through her chuckles and the others looked even more intrigued.

Rina sighed, "Emmie came to stay with us in New York one weekend and Dan was in the city too, we were all out for dinner one evening when Emmie decided to ask me if the Dan at the table was the Dan I was in love with!" the others all gasped at that.

"Oh god that must have been so embarrassing!" said Mitchie looking sorry for Rina.

"Yeah it was but it was the best thing that could have happened cos it turned out he felt the same, so I really should thank Emmie one of these days, I would never have got up the courage otherwise!" she admitted.

It was at that point that Nate came back into the room carrying three pizza boxes followed by a security guard with a bag of soda cans. "Dinner time!" Nate announced to the room at large and he was almost tackled by Mickey just managing to side step in time. They all sat in the middle of the room munching on the pizza; there was little or no conversation at this point as they were all so hungry they concentrated on eating.

When they had all finished eating they stacked the boxes and cans against one of the walls before taking up their original positions in the circle with Emmie and Mickey back in Lottie and Jason's laps.

"So what was your favourite song tonight Emmie?" asked Nate as he smiled at the sight of both his brother and Lottie playing the protector completely unaware of how natural they looked sat there comforting the two sleepy children.

Emmie grinned and relaxed slightly looking up at the rest of the circle, "That's just the way we role!"

"Why?" Nate asked intrigued by the sudden spark that had lit up the little girl like a Christmas tree.

"It reminds me of when I went to stay with Lottie and Rina in New York at their dorm," Rina groaned and hid her face in her hands whilst Lottie blushed and bent her head slightly to hide her glowing cheeks, "We had a slumber party you know a girls night and we were listening to Lottie's I-pod and the song came on. We turned it up really loud and danced around singing in our pyjamas! I had so much fun that weekend!" she was giggling at the memory by the time she had finished telling her story.

The boys all had smiles on their faces, "That sounds like so much fun!" said Jason who was touched by the story that showed how much the two older girls cared for Emmie that they would act silly and have her to stay with them at college.

"What about you Rina which was your favourite?" asked Nate happy that he asked the question because he could see how much the little girls answer had pleased his older brother.

"That's easy, Love Bug it is kind of mine and my boyfriends' song although he would die if he knew I had told anyone that!" she smiled happily at the thought of her boyfriend.

"Cool we're someone's song!" Shane said a stupid goofy grin on his face.

"Calm down baby," Mitchie said patting Shane on his knee, "My favourite is slightly obvious unfortunately, gotta find you has special meaning for me!"

"Well I should hope so I did write it for you!" Shane grinned all the same just because she said it and he kissed her on the cheek.

"My favourite is SOS cos Nate and Shane taught me the flips!" piped up Mickey from Jason's lap.

"Yeah and that is our secret right?" Shane asked Mickey, "You can't tell mum and dad they would freak if they knew we taught you the stunts!"

"Which is your favourite Lottie?" asked Mitchie.

"My favourite is When You Look Me in the Eyes," she smiled in a somewhat grim way, "All I will say is that I has a bad experience and the idea that perhaps love could exist in that unspoilt way gave me hope and well it got me through some tough things!" she glanced down at her lap a tear sliding down her face. She felt Emmie's arms snake around her neck as she tried to muffle a sob.

Rena looked really angry as she stood and went to kneel next to her friend, "You know he is not worth your tears right?" she asked Lottie as she wrapped the cousins in her embrace rocking them slightly. She looked up at the rest of the room and noticed the shocked and sad expressions on their faces, "Let's just say that Lottie has had a pretty nasty hand dealt to her recently and the guy was lucky he was in a different state at the time he crushed her!" she said, "My offer still stands Lot you know that right?"

"If he isn't worth my tears then he defiantly isn't worth your anger breathe Rina, in and out relax you look so stiff your arms could snap off!" Lottie teased through a watery grin, "Sorry about that guys!"

"Hey I am just glad that it means something to someone!" Jason said, "The reason I wrote it kind of didn't turn out the way I planned but at least I know that it wasn't a total waste! What about you Caity?" Jason asked taking the focus off of Lottie, "Which song of ours is your favourite?"

"I would have to say that it is Just Friends I love the whole idea it is just really sweet although I would like to know which one of you wrote it?" she said quietly with a small smile.

"I wrote it..." Nate said in a small voice.

"Wow, who is it about?" asked Caity.

"Um..." Nate sounded uncertain but Jason nodded to him and Shane was grinning, "You!" he said quickly not waiting to hear a reply but tearing out of the room so fast Caitlyn almost didn't hear him.

"Did he just say me?" she sounded like she was in shock.

"Yeah, he did!" Shane said softly, "you should go talk to him Caity!" he watched as she got up and made her way out of the room after Nate.

"Maybe those two will now finally admit how they feel about each other!" Mitchie sighed as she looked at the door that had just closed behind her two friends.


	4. Finally

I don't own any of the camp rock characters....

**Chapter 4**

"I thought there might be something going on between them but I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong!" Rina said as they all sat watching the door.

"Well they could be a while still so why don't we continue with the game for a bit?" Shane said trying to gloss over the fact that he was feeling almost as on edge as Mitchie.

"Ok so whose turn is it now?" asked Lottie...

**Meanwhile in the roof access stairwell: **

"Oh god I hate stairs they were invented as some kind of torture devise!" thought Caitlyn as she missed the edge of the next step and banged her knee. She bent down to rub the sore spot taking advantage of the brief pause to catch her breath from running after Nate. She knew he couldn't be that much further up the stairs. "What if he didn't mean it the way I think he did?" the thought bust into Caitlyn's head like a thunder clap and she almost sobbed at the thought that it could all be a joke. "No way this is Nate he would never hurt me like that, for starters he is too scared of Mitchie to do that." Caitlyn drew in a deep breath and rounded the corner to mount the last flight of stairs which led to the roof of the stadium.

"Nate?" she called softly as she pushed through the heavy door that led outside. She could see him sitting on top of an air conditioning unit looking out over the city which was lit up and spread out before them like a neon splatter painting. He turned slightly at the sound of her voice and she could see the tears on his face. He spun around again and dashed his hands under his eyes but she had already seen the tears. "Why did you run away?" she asked her voice so quiet she was surprised he could hear her but he obviously had because he turned towards her again.

"I was scared!" he said simply.

"Of what Nate?" she needed him to say it to her because although she felt so special knowing the song was about her she still needed to hear the words from him.

"I know that you can't possibly think of me that way and I didn't want to have to hear you say it!" He said with a rueful grin.

"How do you know I would have said that?" she was seriously confused now, "What if I said that I felt the same way about you too, that I want to be more than just your friend?"

His head snapped up from where he had been inspecting the dirt on his shoes to look her in the face with a spark of hope tinged with reserve in his eyes, "Do you really mean that Caity?" he asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Nate you're my best friend aside from Mitchie, you make me laugh and when I am with you I feel so safe because I know you would never hurt me! How could I possibly not like you?"

"But Caity your so gorgeous and fun and everybody loves you and I am this boring guy sitting in the corner just hoping that you will throw a smile in my direction every once in a while!"

She took a step towards him closing the gap between them, "Nate how come you never told me or asked me out on a date?"

"I couldn't risk losing you and was willing to take whatever you would offer me!" he said with a rueful grin on his face, "Did you mean it when you said you liked me back?"

He was standing right in front of her now there was less than an inch between them. "Yes!" as soon as the whispered word fled from Caitlyn's lips all of the shadows disappeared from Nates eyes and a huge grin spread over his face he lowered his head slightly and closed the final gap between them gently catching her lips with his own. The kiss was short and perfect then he wrapped his arms around her and just held her against him revelling in the fact that he didn't have to let go.

"Nate do you really dream about picket fences and wedding vows?" she asked in a small voice her cheek pressed over his heart and her arms snaked around his waist.

"I love you Cait, your my one and only and that is never going to change!" he promised to her dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you too Nate!" she said as she burrowed closer to his chest.

**Back in the green room:**

"What is taking them so long?" Shane whined glancing to the door again.

"You are like an old woman twitching the lace in her windows whilst watching her neighbours Shane!" groaned Jason but truth was he was just as anxious to see the other two again.

"Ok I have a question which could be good!" said Mitchie trying to distract the brothers, "We have done our favourite songs of yours how about favourite song ever?"

"Oh that's a good one!" agreed Rina, "are we still going in age order?" the others nodded, "ok then that means Emmie is first!"

"Um...still that's just the way we role!" she said and Lottie smiled glad that her cousins memories gave her that much pleasure.

"I love Feel Good Inc. by the Gorillas" said Mickey.

"You Found Me by Kelly Clarkson" Mitchie blushed as she made the admission and Lottie smiled thinking about the lyrics in her head Rina couldn't stop herself letting out a small aw.

"Um Ride of Your Life by John Gregory," said Shane which surprised the others.

"Lottie?" asked Jason turning towards her slightly.

"I don't know if you'll have heard of her but I love Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall!" she said.

"Cool we love her music we have it on the bus," said Mitchie and Shane and Jason were quick to nod.

"What about you Jason?"

"Err not sure actually Leave out All the Rest by Linkin Park" he said.

"I love anything by Eva Cassidy but my favourite of hers is Autumn Leaves!" said Rina finishing off the circle.

As the last round of questions came to a close Lottie realised they were going to have to go, Emmie was already asleep again and Lottie still had to drive back to the hotel and she was getting tired. "I think it might be time for us to leave!" she said sadly because she had been having such a good time.

"Shane would you take Mickey out to the bus for me?" Jason said. "Mitchie do you mind waiting here for Nate and Caitlyn so they know where everyone has gone?" Mitchie nodded and started to get up off the floor. Once Mickey had been passed to Shane Jason stood up and bent down to lift Emmie off of Lottie. "I'll carry her out for you." He said holding her in one arm and reaching a hand down to help Lottie up from her position on the floor.

"Oh I can't believe you have to go already!" Mitchie said she gave Lottie a hug who then walked out of the room in front of Jason followed by Rina who was tucking a piece of paper into the front pocket of her bag.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to walk us to the car?" Lottie asked Jason in a slightly worried voice. "There could still be loads of people out there."

"I'm sure besides it's just me and three girls who is going to recognise me when they'll all be looking at you?" he teased her lightly, "Where did you park your jeep?" he asked quickly changing the subject but still catching the light blush that stained Lottie's cheeks.

"We're on the third level of the car park, near to the elevator." She said praying that her hair was hiding her cheeks that she could feel burning.

"Ok that is easy to get to!" he said turning in the right direction and leading the small group towards the elevators whilst Shane turned the other way towards the back entrance to the stadium which would lead him out to the tour bus.

They were silent until they reached the jeep which Lottie opened after hunting for the keys in the bottom of her bag. Between them Jason and Lottie strapped Emmie into the back seat as she slept on. Rina had already got into the passenger seat and was sorting out her seatbelt. That just left Lottie and Jason standing next to her door.

"Here," said Jason putting a hand into his pocket and drawing out a small piece of paper, "this is my private email, write to me some time I would love to stay in touch with you!" he said folding the slip into Lottie's hand and closing her fingers around it.

"Thanks, of course I will write to you although I am sure you lead a far more interesting life than I do!" she said ruefully.

"I want to get to know you better Lottie!" he said, "I had a great time this evening, it was good fun" after saying that he wrapped her in a tight hug before opening her door and helping her to climb into her seat.

"Goodbye!" said Lottie with a small smile as she started to close the door. She could have sworn just before the door shut she heard him say quietly "for now!"

She looked in her rear view mirror and caught a last look of Jason as he stood and watched them drive out of the car park raising his hand in farewell.

................................................

Mitchie sat up in her chair when she heard voices outside the door of the green room and smiled when Nate and Caitlyn entered the room.

"Where did everyone go?" asked Nate a confused frown on his face.

"The girls had to go cos it is getting late, Jason is walking them to their car and Shane is taking Mickey to the bus" Mitchie informed them, "I was left behind to make sure you two found your way back!" she teased her eyes lingering on their linked hands.

"Why don't you go find Shane Mitchie and Nate and I will check over to make sure we have everything!" Caitlyn said knowing that her friend was dying to spend some time alone with her boyfriend this evening.

"Great, I'll see you two back on the bus in a bit then!" she replied walking out of the room with a bag over her shoulder.

Mitchie walked down the corridors and out to the bus not realising that Jason was close behind her, she climbed up the steps and moved towards the back of the coach dropping her load on the couch as she passed. She found Shane trying to persuade Mickey to go back to sleep so sat down on the bed next to him to help. That was how Jason found them when he got on the bus and he couldn't help but think that it might be a vision of the future because there was no doubt in his mind that Mitchie and Shane would last and that they were going to be great parents. When Nate and Caitlyn came in and stood next to them he held a finger to his lips and pointed to Shane and Mitchie. The other two grinned at him and they retreated to the front of the bus to wait for Shane and Mitchie to join them.

....................................................

Once Lottie and Rina had managed to get Emmie back into the room of their cheap hotel and put her to bed on the pull out sofa they were exhausted and collapsed on the queen sized bed they were sharing.

They lay there in silence for a few minutes each of them trying to gather up the last remnants of their strength to get up and get ready for bed. The silence was never bound to last long with Rina still awake and sure enough she was the first to speak. "Oh My God! Can you believe the night we just had?" she turned her head slightly to look at her friend who had a small smile playing about her lips.

Lottie wasn't really paying much attention to her friend and the small smile was quickly turning into an all out grin at the thought of the slip of paper which was tucked safely into her jeans pocket, "I think I might have been dreaming!" Lottie said with a sigh.

"No way Lottie because nothing we could dream would be remotely as perfect as that!" said Rina, "Jason seemed to really like you!" she watched for her friends reaction to his name and there was a spark in her eyes that Rina hadn't seen in a long time which made her send a quick prayer of thanks.

"Don't be so silly Rina he was just being polite!" Lottie flushed an interesting shade of pink.

"Come on Lottie are you telling me that you didn't notice the way he was looking at you? He was practically staring at you the whole time we were there!" Rina informed her friend in a blasé tone.

"Come on Ri we should get some sleep," Lottie changed the subject her cheeks still glowing, "we have an early start in the morning!" she got off the bed and grabbed her overnight bag before heading into the bathroom.

..................................................................

Mitchie and Shane had just finished putting Mickey to bed and come back to the front of the bus, they sat down at on the sofa's and they talked a while about how the show had gone that evening before Caitlyn brought up their new friends.

"I can't believe they had to leave before I got to say goodbye!" Caitlyn looked upset, "They were really nice weren't they?" she asked the others looking slightly sad.

"Yeah they were, it's a shame we're not all going to be in LA longer it would have been nice to get to know them better!" said Nate agreeing with his girlfriend.

"Come on guys we should take Mickey's example and get some sleep we could all do with it!" Shane stood up and pulled Mitchie to her feet as she was trying to hide a wide yawn.

"Yeah that's probably best we can talk in the morning!" said Jason as he said night to the girls and retreated to the room at the back of the bus that he shared with his brothers.

Mitchie and Caitlyn said goodnight to their boyfriends before shutting themselves into their room, "You have to tell me everything!" Mitchie practically jumped at Caitlyn wanting to know what had gone on between her and Nate feeling that she had been way too patient waiting this long to question her best friend.

"Calm down Mitch, let's get ready for bed and then I promise to tell you!" Caitlyn grinned knowing that her friend must having been going crazy with curiosity for the last couple of hours.

"Alright!" Mitchie agreed starting to get changed when her phone started going off from where it was on the bed. "Oh text message!" she said picking up the phone and flipping it open to read.

"OH MY GOD SHANE YOU ARE JUST NEXT DOOR!" Caitlyn yelled banging on the wall.

"WHAT?" came back the muffled yell.

"Cait it isn't Shane!" Mitchie said laughing at her friend, "would now be a bad time to mention you have a text from Nate on your phone?" teased Mitchie pointing at Caitlyn's I-Phone which true enough had a message from Nate flashing on the screen.

Caitlyn blushed and grabbed the phone, "Oops!" she said before yelling sorry through the wall to Shane who was now awake and curious as to what was going on in the girls room. "So who is the text from then?" Caitlyn asked Mitchie quickly replying to the message from Nate before changing into her pyjamas.

"It was from Rina letting me know that they were back at the hotel and that they wanted to thank us for a lovely evening!" she replied. "Cait do you think Rina noticed the way Jase was looking at Lottie?" a grin forming on her face.

"Why don't you ask her?" Caitlyn grinned back in a conspiratorial fashion, "Also see if you can find out what Lottie thinks of Jason!" Mitchie grinned and started typing the message.

Whilst they were waiting for the reply they finished getting ready for bed and turned off the main light keeping on the lamp between their beds, "How did Rina have your number anyway?" Caitlyn asked suddenly.

"I gave it to her just as they were leaving, I wanted to stay in touch with them and gave it to her when I said goodbye!" Mitchie said shrugging her shoulders as she climbed under the covers. When she had settled back against the pillows her phone lit up again on the nightstand. "Yes she did notice and she thinks that Lottie really likes Jason but won't admit it cos she is still scared. She wants to know what Jason thinks of Lottie! What should I say?"

"Well um maybe you should say that we will find out tomorrow and get back to her as I think we should find out some more but it is definitely a safe bet that he likes her!" Caitlyn said.

"Your right!" Mitchie quickly replied then turned her phone on silent, "We should probably go to sleep... but first you have to tell me what happened between you and Nate!"

"Oh all right!" Caitlyn sighed knowing Mitchie wouldn't let her sleep until she had told the story, "well I followed him up to the roof and found him looking out over the city, he was crying and when I asked him why he had run he said he was scared I would tell him I didn't like him as more than just as a friend!" she drew in a breath, "so I told him he was being silly and that I liked him too and well basically he kissed me and told me he loves me! Oh I love him so much Mitchie and I am so happy!" Caitlyn was daydreaming looking at the ceiling when she heard Mitchie sigh.

"Finally!" her friend said, "now all we have to sort out is Jason!"

..................................................................

The conversation in the boy's room was shockingly similar! When they had all finished getting ready for bed and the light had been turned out none of them fell asleep right away, "So Nate what happened between you and Caitlyn?"

"Why do you want to know Shane?" was the reply he got.

"Because I am your brother and I want to make sure you didn't make an ass of yourself!" Shane said a cheeky grin on his face.

"Don't listen to him Nate, he is just nosy and doesn't want to admit that Mitchie has turned him into a sappy fool!" Jason teased his younger brother.

Suddenly they could all hear an indignant Caitlyn through the wall "OH MY GOD SHANE YOU ARE JUST NEXT DOOR!"

"WHAT?" Shane yelled back confused as to what he was supposed to have done this time when Caitlyn yelled back sorry and they could hear Mitchie laughing. Shane shook his head, "that girl is so weird sometimes!" he said.

"Hey don't call my girlfriend weird!" Nate said realising as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he had just told his brothers the gist of what had happened on the roof.

"Oh so your together now then?" Shane teased, "Took you long enough!"

"Shane shut up, what about Jason?" he said desperately trying to steer the conversation away from him and Caitlyn, "What about the way he was ogling Lottie all night?"

"That's true Nate!" Shane said turning his attention to his older brother, "you like her don't you?"

"She was really nice!" Jason said in a non committal way.

"That is not what I meant and you know it!" Shane said.

"Yeah come on man we saw the way you were looking at her, and I could tell that the way she treats Emmie impressed you!" Nate said.

"All right so maybe I do like her but I hardly know her and until I know her better I am not going to make anything out of it!" Jason caved far sooner that his brothers thought he would.

"How?" Shane asked confused.

"I gave her my email address when I walked them out to her car!" he shrugged, "hopefully she will email me like she promised!" he turned over so that his back was to his younger brothers, "Goodnight!" he said in a final tone but Shane and Nate had got all the information they needed for the night. They looked at each other and grinned before saying goodnight and lying down to sleep.


	5. Morning Starbucks Run

**Here we go the next chapter for you...just what I think mornings are like (i.e. EVIL)**

**Like you know I don't own the camp rock characters!!!**

**Chapter 5**

**In the hotel room**

Lottie groaned as she turned over and fumbled on the floor next to the bed to grab her phone which was ringing. "Yup?" she croaked into the phone when she finally found it and answered without looking at the display.

"Morning sweetheart did you have a good time last night?" said the woman on the end of the phone sounding far more awake than Lottie felt.

"Hey mommy!" she smiled into the phone snuggling back under the covers talking quietly so as not to disturb the others, "We had a great time! I think I might need to send a thank you note to whoever wrote up the schedules for the hospital this month!" she joked.

"Aw I am glad honey you will have to tell me all about it when you get home tonight!" Lottie smiled knowing her mom would probably be like a fan girl when she quizzed Lottie later, "I was just calling to make sure you guys woke up so that Rina makes her flight!"

"Oh right um I have to go mom, I need to get the others up!" she said goodbye and hung up the phone. She knew she was unlikely to wake up the other two if she was careful so she quickly grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom to get dressed. Once she was dressed she wrote a quick note on the pad by the phone and left the room taking her purse with her. Twenty minutes later she let herself back into the room and smiled as she realised the other two still hadn't stirred from their original position. She put down her purse the plastic sack and the tray of take out cups she was carrying before picking up one of the mugs and walking over to Rina's side of the bed. "Good morning sunshine!" she sang into Rina's ear and she was rewarded with a moan! "I went to Starbucks!" she said which made Rina sit up.

"Tea?" It was the only word that mattered to Rina first thing in the mornings.

"Yeah just the way you like it!" Lottie handed the cup to Rina once she had sat up.

"Thanks you're an angel!"

"You won't think so once I have woken up terror over there!" she winked grabbing the smaller cup out of the tray and walking over to the sofa bed. "Emmie wake up kiddo got you some coco!" she used the incentive to get her cousin to wake up.

"Morning Lottie!" said Emmie in a voice slightly lower than normal, her face was still flushed with sleep, "Thank you!" she said when she took the cup from Lottie, "morning Rina!" she said looking over to the bed where Rina was cradling the cup of tea in her hands.

"Hey Em, good sleep?" Rina asked.

"Yeah it was good, Lottie I'm hungry." She turned to look towards her cousin.

"Good thing I got bagels for everyone then!" she laughed as she passed them out to the other two. "Mom called to see how we are; you guys need to get dressed as soon as you're done! We have to get to the airport soon so that we can check you in for your flight Rina!"

"Right, I have to go home today," she frowned slightly, "God it is going to be almost a month before I see you again!"

"Hey it will fly by, don't think of it as a month without me you should think of it as a month with Dan!" Lottie tried to comfort her friend.

"Yeah I suppose," she seemed to be thinking through the logic of it as she munched on her bagel.

"I'm done," Emmie chirped in, "Where did I put my bag Lottie I need my clothes!"

"It is right where you left it yesterday in the bathroom!" Lottie said pointing to the door.

"Oh right!" Emmie blushed and ran into the bathroom locking the door behind her.

"Come on lazy you have to get out of bed at some point!" Lottie said to Rina.

"Oh all right bossy!" was the reply from her friend as she threw back the covers.

They put the sofa bed away together while they waited for Emmie to come out of the bathroom, when they switched and Rina was getting dressed Emmie and Lottie checked over the room to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. In half an hour they were all ready, they had checked out of the room and were in Lottie's car on the way to the airport.

.........................

**On the Connect 3 tour bus**

"Good morning!" someone called through from the front of the bus and Jason groaned realising it was his mother out in the front which meant he was going to have to wake up.

He hauled himself out of his bunk pulling off Shane's duvet and yanking Nate's pillow from under his head to wake them up before stumbling out of their room towards the kitchen and lounge area. "Morning Mom!" he said groggily as he gave her a hug.

"Morning sweetheart, did you have a good concert last night?" she asked him passing him a cup of coffee from the row of take out cups on the side.

He nodded and took a sip of the steaming hot coffee letting the rich and milky hazelnut flavoured drink slip over his tongue before swallowing it, "Thanks for the coffee! Yeah we had a great time last night. Did you and dad have a nice time at the movies?" He asked hoping that his parents had enjoyed their night of peace and quiet which they didn't very often get with four sons and definitely deserved.

"We did Jason it was a lovely treat although I always hate missing you boys perform!" she was busy making pancakes in the tiny kitchen by that point when Shane and Nate came into the room followed by Caitlyn who's hair was all over the place like she had been electrocuted and finally Mitchie carrying a still sleepy Mickey in her arms. "Morning kids!" she said as they all sat around the table, she handed each of them their favourite order from Starbucks before handing a cup of juice to Mickey.

"Oh you are absolutely amazing Mrs Gray!" Caitlyn sighed as she inhaled the caffeine fumes from her Mocha.

"I will second that motion," agreed Mitchie who was cradling a vanilla hot chocolate in her hands. "Thanks Mrs Gray!"

"Your welcome girls and how many times do I need to tell you to call me Lucy?" she admonished them lightly these girls were like the daughters she had never been blessed with and if the way two of her four sons acted around them there was a good chance they could end up her daughters some day…just not too soon she hoped. Now all that remained was for Jason to find himself a girl to love but the expression of once bitten twice shy seemed to have been created just for her eldest son and she so wished to see him happy again.

"Hey mom can I smell pancakes?" asked Nate looking up at her with big eyes designed to make the most hard hearted woman melt into a puddle.

"Sure can, I thought I would give you guys a treat as we won't have the chance to hang around in LA!" she said before turning back to the pan on the stove.

"Oh that reminds me!" Mitchie dashed out of the room before anyone could ask her what was up and by the time she came back into the room she was chatting on her mobile to someone. "Ok I promise…no way you have to tell me when you get there or I will be worried sick…yeah I want to know that too so let me know as soon as you find out…we all will be…yes some more than others…ok have a good time…give them hugs from us?...right I'll talk to you later bye!" she looked up at the others who were all staring at her with curious expressions on their faces except for Caitlyn who had guessed who Mitchie was talking to. "What?"

"Who was that?" asked Shane pulling his girlfriend down onto the bench next to him and wrapping an arm around her back.

"Oh that was Rina!" Mitchie said in a nonchalant manner before reaching for the syrup to pour onto the stack of pancakes.

"Who's Rina?" asked Lucy in a curious voice.

"One of the girls we met last night, she was with the girl Emmie that won the contest she is my age and her older cousin Lottie brought her, Rina is Lottie's friend from school!" Mickey recited the convoluted explanation with a proud look on his face that he had got the facts right.

"So did you find out how they all are today then?" asked Jason concentrating on his pancakes hoping the others would take the question at face value but there was no hope for that especially from his brothers.

"Yeah Caity do tell us how Lottie is today we are just dying to know?" Shane said in a mock serious tone but couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud especially at the sight of the slight flush which spread along Jason's cheekbones.

"They are fine, they're on their way to the airport to drop of Rina and then Lottie and Emmie are driving strait back to San Francisco!" Mitchie interrupted Shane and sent him a look that told him to shut up fast or face his girlfriend's wrath.

"Is Rina going to let you know when she gets home?" Caitlyn asked the question this time to keep the topic of the conversation away from Lottie for Jason's sake. It was all very well that they all knew that Jason liked Lottie but he was the kind of guy that needed to do things in his own time and their teasing him would only make him be more reluctant to do anything.

"Yeah she said she would call me as soon as she could turn her phone back on!" Mitchie said.

Nate had taken the hint from the look Mitchie had thrown Shane and decided to pick a neutral topic, "So mom what time are we going to be setting off and where is the next venue I forgot!"

**Let me know what you think! There is a bit of a surprise in the next chapter...just to add a little bit of drama!**


	6. Travel Plans

_Hey guys here is the next chapter, I'm sorry this has taken so long to be posted but co-writing stories makes it difficult to get stuff done! Anyway here is the next instalment I hope you like it!!_

_Once again I do not own any of the Camp Rock Characters!_

**Chapter 6**

By one in the afternoon the bus was well on its way to Phoenix in Arizona where they would be performing that night. They had spent the morning playing computer games and now they were all sat down watching a film. Mitchie was starting to get worried and Shane picked up on this, "Hey what's wrong Mitch you're really tense!" he frowned as he put an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm worried about Rina!" she replied a frown having taken up residence on her forehead and she was checking her phone again to make sure that she had signal.

"What do you mean?" Nate joined in them and now the only one paying any attention to the movie any more was Mickey.

"Well the flight from Los Angeles to San Diego is only about one and a half hours long; I should know I have taken it enough times when I go to visit my cousins! Rina should have called hours ago to say she was home, what if something happened to her plane!" Panic was kindled in the eyes of the others as they all thought about the possibility of a plane crash.

Just when the tension in the room was getting thick Mitchie's phone lit up in her hand, she jumped slightly but recovered quickly flapping her hand in the direction of the others before answering the call, "Rina are you ok? Why didn't you call me? We were really worried about you!" Mitchie practically screeched into the phone, "Okay yes I promise to breathe! I'll put you on speaker hang on one sec!" she took the phone away from her ear and pressed the button to turn on the speaker phone, "Ok can you explain now?"

They all crowded eagerly around the phone waiting to hear that Rina was ok, _"I hate airports!" _came Rina's disgruntled voice out of the phone, _"firstly I am absolutely fine so don't worry my day however has not been so great! My direct flight from LA to San Diego was cancelled so they put me on another flight which left an hour later but I had to go all the way to San Francisco and then double back to San Diego on another plane which took four hours!" _she sounded like she needed to vent her frustration so the others all stayed quiet and let her explain, _"the journey should have been two hours at the very maximum and that is including driving home from the airport with heavy traffic! I could have driven to San Francisco with Lottie and then caught a plane home and to top all of that off, I have only just arrived and they lost my bag they have no idea where it is for all I know my stuff is in Alaska!"_

"You know how you told me to breathe?" asked Mitchie, "I think it is your turn now, calm down Rina it will all be fine...at least you got home! I was having panicked visions of plane crashes, we're glad you're ok!" the others all quickly added their own agreement to this and sympathy over the lost bag.

"Are Emmie and Lottie with you Rina?" whilst they were talking they hadn't noticed Mickey wriggle into the group.

"_No I tried to ring them to see if they got home but her phone was engaged, I'll try again once I have rung off with you guys though!" _she seemed to be calmer now_, "how are you guys doing anyways?"_

"Just another hour or so and then we should be in Phoenix which should leave us plenty of time for the sound check before the concert starts!" Jason said wishing that Rina had been able to tell them Lottie had got home safely because he would worry until he knew she was ok!

"Yeah we haven't been up to much just hanging out and relaxing on our way there," Caitlyn sounded fairly calm now that she knew Rina was ok.

"_Well I guess I need to go and sort out my lost bag claim thing and see if I can get hold of Lottie, she might not be there yet, it takes about 6 hours to get there from LA! I'll call you back in a little while ok Mitchie?" _

"Sure thing let us know how things go!" they said goodbye and Mitchie put her phone down on the floor in front of her.

"Do you feel better now?" Shane asked his girlfriend glad that she was less tense than earlier and had relaxed into his hug.

"Yup, now we just need to find out when Lottie gets home!" They all turned back towards the film and settled down to wait for another call from Rina.

"Come on let's just watch the film. I am sure that they are fine!"

Not that much later as they all sat singing along to the song at the end of Monsters Inc. and laughing at the credits when Mitchie's phone started to ring again, she grabbed it up off the floor and saw that it was Rina calling her back.

"Hey Rina," she said happily but then he face fell as she heard the sound of the other girl crying. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly. She hit Shane on the arm and pointed to Mickey mouthing at her boyfriend to send him into the other room. When this had been accomplished Mitchie switched her phone onto speaker for the second time that day.

"_Lottie and Emmie were in an accident her parents just rang me!" _she told them through her sobs.

"Oh my goodness, are they all right, what happened?" asked Jason slightly frantically.

"_They were in a crash just outside San Francisco. The Ambulance took them to the General, we only found out so fast because Emmie's parents work there and one of the nurses in the ED recognised Emmie!" _Rina said still crying, by this point Mitchie and Caitlyn looked like they were about to join her and their respective boyfriends wrapped their arms around them to try and calm them down.

"Are they going to be ok?" asked Nate worried about their new friends and glad that Mitchie had thought to send Mickey out of the room.

"_Emmie should be fine, she only has a mild concussion apparently along with a few cuts and bruises!" _she told them. _"It's Lottie that their worried about!"_

They had all been standing in a circle around the phone until that moment. When Jason heard Rina say that Lottie was more seriously hurt he sat down on the sofa hard and there was a vacant look in his eyes, Shane and Nate who had seen this both put a hand on his shoulder whilst keeping their other hand entwined with that of their girlfriends. This arranged them all so that they were grouped in a rather rag tag horse shoe around the table where Mitchie's phone lay open.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Caitlyn glancing sympathetically at Jason she knew what it felt like to know someone you love was ill and not be able to do anything about it.

"_They think there might be something wrong with her back!" _Rina said quietly waiting for the implication to sink in.

"What do you mean think?" Jason growled, "They're doctors aren't they?"

"Hey man I'm sure their doing everything they can!" Shane said squeezing his shoulder it was unsettling watching his older brother loose it like this Jase had always seemed to be in control.

"_The reason they're not sure is because she still hasn't woken up and until she does they can't assess the damage properly!" _Rina sounded dejected as she told them the extent of Lottie's condition causing Jason to burst into tears.

Mitchie grabbed the phone and turned off the speaker knowing that Jason couldn't deal with hearing any more so as she tried to calm down Rina Shane and Nate were left with Jason. Whilst Shane was trying to calm Jason down Nate mouthed at Caitlyn to find their mum knowing she would be the only one that could get through Jason fear and when she had left the room Nate and Shane tried to offer Jason some comfort their roles reversed for the first time in years.

"Um, Lucy I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?" asked Caitlyn as she walked through to the front of the bus where she and John the boys dad were sat talking to Mickey and the driver Reggie.

"Of course not, Mickey was just telling us all about his new friend from last night," said Lucy smiling at her youngest son before looking up into the face of the girl who had come to find them.

"I think we need your help at the back of the bus!" Caitlyn said glancing nervously at Mickey not wanting to say much in front of him and then upset him.

Mr Gray saw the anxious look on Caitlyn's face and decided that it would be best if Mickey was kept busy for the moment, "Hey Mickey, I want you and Reggie to run through your timetables for me so that you can show me later, ok buddy?" John told him ruffling the little boy's hair before standing up and pointing Caitlyn into the Kitchen of the bus whilst he and Lucy followed her.

Caitlyn was glad of the fact that she had shut the door between the lounge area and the kitchen before she had come to find them so that they could talk before they went into the others.

"What's going on Caitlyn?" asks Mrs Gray as she glanced back at Mickey who was busy reciting numbers for their driver who was doing a great job of encouraging him through the sequences.

"It's actually about two of the girls that we met last night!" Caitlyn told them.

"What's wrong, has something happened?" asked John.

"Emmie the little girl that Mickey made friends with, well she and her cousin Lottie were driving back to San Francisco this morning." Caitlyn paused and took a breath before continuing with the story, "they had almost made it back when they were involved in a car accident. They had to be taken to hospital."

"Oh my goodness, are they going to be ok?" asked Lucy as she pressed a hand over her heart in shock.

"So far all we have managed to learn from Rina is that Emmie has a slight concussion but other than a few bumps and bruises I think she is ok, the problem is Lottie who was driving, she hasn't woken up and apparently the doctors are worried about something to do with her back." Caitlyn listed off the problems that had come to light about their new friends and watched the look of horror flit across Mr and Mrs Greys faces, "it's kind of crazy back there, Jason is a total mess and the rest of us aren't that far behind him!" she admitted.

"What do you mean when you say that Jason is worse off than the rest of you?" asked John slightly confused.

"Do you not listen to those boys? Shane has been teasing Jase about this Lottie girl all day! Honestly sometimes I think you men are far more clueless than blond women are supposed to be," Lucy told her husband smiling, a little bit of her usual sparkle back in her eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me that Jason actually likes this girl?" asked John, "as in a girl boy thing not just a friends thing?" he sounded sceptical.

"If you could have seen the way he was looking at her last night you wouldn't be asking me that question!" Caitlyn assured him, "also the sight of him and Lottie playing the protective older sibling card was just adorable. But that isn't the point here; we need to get back in there because I'm not entirely sure how effectively Shane and Nate are going to manage to calm him down!"

Caitlyn could tell that John and Lucy were shocked when they went into the lounge and saw the state of Jason and a petrified Shane and Nate who were still trying to calm him down, Lucy virtually ran across the open space and shooed Nate and Shane off of the sofa. They got up willingly and watched as their mum wrapped Jason in a hug almost pulling him onto her lap the way she had when they had hurt themselves as little kids, "aw baby don't cry, everything will be ok!" she told him softly almost coming to tears herself when Jason turned into her shoulder and continued to cry, although the sobs were less violent now as she rocked him gently making soothing noises.

John beckoned for the others to follow him back into the kitchen so that Lucy had the chance to calm Jason down whilst the rest of them discussed what was going on.

Mitchie was still on the phone as she walked through the kitchen door closing it softly behind her. "Rina, call Dan and get him to come and be with you for a bit, I'll call you call as soon as I can!" Mitchie told her before she hung up the phone so that she could take part in the conversation.

John ushered them all to sit around the kitchen table that had been witness to the far more light hearted discussion of their new friends over their breakfast. "Ok, I think I need you guys to tell me everything from the beginning again just so I know exactly what we are dealing with!" John said as they all settled themselves around the table.

"When I called Rina this morning at breakfast I made her promise to ring me when she made it home and when she did she still hadn't heard from Lottie and Emmie but promised to pass on the news as soon as she heard anything!" Mitchie told John nervously flicking her mobile phone open and shut in her hands until Shane took it off her and held onto her hand.

"When she called back it was to tell us that the girls had been in an accident and had being taken to San Francisco General Hospital," Nate continued the story for Mitchie.

"When I left the room we didn't know much about what had happened to Lottie and I have already told you what I know about Emmie!" Caitlyn put in leaning into Nate's side as he slipped an arm around her.

"Ok so far I think I am keeping up, did you find out anything else after Caitlyn left the room Mitchie?" asked John.

"Yes actually Rina had another call whilst we talked; it was from Lottie's mom. It turns out that Emmie has fractured her left arm where she was thrown against the car door and although her concussion isn't severe she is being kept in for a few days observation." Mitchie told them Shane winced when she mentioned the broken arm; he had done that often enough to know how uncomfortable the little girl would be feeling. "They have X-rayed Lottie's back and don't think it's broken but until the swelling and bruising goes down and she wakes up they won't be able to tell much! Apparently she whacked her head on the steering wheel which has left her with a severe concussion and it's keeping her unconscious at the moment."

"I hope for Jays sake as much as hers that she is ok, I've never seen him like this!" said Nate echoing the feelings of everyone at the table.

"Hang on Mitchie, you said Rina is talking to them on the phone why isn't she at the hospital with them?" asked John confused.

"She lives at the other end of the state; she flew down to San Diego this morning, there's no way she could afford to get to San Francisco and even if she could afford the ticket I doubt she'd want to get on another plain today after the problems she had getting home from LA!" Mitchie told him.

"If it was me and I had to go back to the airport I think I would probably cry!" Caitlyn said emphatically, briefly explaining to John about the redirection and lost baggage that had plagued Rina that morning.

"Ok well I don't think she should be all on her own at the moment," John said. "Did you say that she was going to get her boyfriend to stay with her?"

"Yeah I told her to call Dan, he's friends with Lottie and Emmie too so he'll understand how scared she'll be at the minute," Mitchie said nodding. "I don't know how long he'll be able to stay though she mentioned yesterday that he is working full time through the holidays to save for his tuition!"

"Well I think that is where we can sort something out!" John told the teenagers sitting around him.

"What do you mean dad?" asked Shane speaking up for the first time.

"Well you guys only have tonight in Phoenix and the following two nights in Denver," he reminded them. "I think maybe your mom and Caitlyn should go to San Diego to find Rina and then they could fly up to San Francisco together. After your last show on Thursday night I can have the jet waiting and we will go straight there to meet up with them and see your friends!" He looked around the table to gauge the group's reaction to his suggestion. "I know you guys want to go strait there but you need to finish the tour, this way your mom can keep us in the loop until we can all go and see them."

"That is a great idea!" Nate said nodding enthusiastically as he hugged Caitlyn strongly.

"You could stay with the tour if you want Caitlyn?" John told her not wanting to pressure the girl to go.

"I want to help the girls, besides Rina might feel more comfortable if someone she knew turned up!" she said shrugging her shoulders, she didn't really want to leave the others behind but told herself that it was only three days.

Shane suddenly looked worried, "how are we supposed to tell Jase that he can't go and see her until Friday?" He asked looking around at the others for a suggestion.

"The only thing we can do is tell him the truth it's not fair otherwise," John told them as he stood up. "Let's go and see how he's doing, I'll tell him what's going on for you guys!"

The five of them made their way back into the lounge and found Jason looking much calmer as he sat on the couch talking quietly to Lucy who was running a comforting hand up and down his back.

The two of them looked towards the door as they entered and took the remaining seats in the room Caitlyn and Mitchie sitting on the arms of the chairs their boyfriends had sat down in.

"So what's going to happen?" Jason asked in a hoarse voice as he stared at them out of bloodshot eyes, his cheeks still puffy and red from crying.

"Mitchie has pointed out that Rina is on her own and really scared for her friend and that she can't be with her because she's in San Diego, so I think it might be a good idea if your mum and Caitlyn fly down to Rina and then the three of them can travel to travel to San Francisco together!" John started to explain the plan with the extra details as much for Lucy's benefit as for Jason's. "That way whilst the rest of us finish the tour they can keep us updated and as soon as the last concert in Denver ends on Thursday night we will get on the jet and fly out to meet them!" he finished the explanation hoping his oldest son would accept the situation for what it was.

"I understand that we have to finish the tour dad don't worry, I would never want to disappoint our fans never mind how much I wish I could go straight to san Francisco and see them!" Jason said the rest of the group letting out an unconsciously held breath when they realised Jason wasn't going to fight them on the issue of continuing the tour. "Plus Lottie's a fan and she wouldn't want me to disappoint people for her!"

None of the others made any comment on the fact that Jason had just admitted Lottie's opinion was important to him but Lucy was smiling happily at the thought that Jason seemed to be making a deeper connection with a girl again.

"Well that's settled then," Lucy said, "when we get into Phoenix you lot will have to go straight into sound check, I don't think we should say anything to Mickey until after that when we will have a better idea of when Caitlyn and I will be leaving!"

"Alright guys make sure you have everything you're going to need from the bus because we should be at the US Airways Centre in the next half an hour and you know how manic it will be once we get there!" John told them. With that they all stood to move to different parts of the bus. Mitchie and the guys made sure they would have everything they would need for the show that night whilst Caitlyn and Lucy were busy packing small bags with enough clothes for the next few days which left John to entertain Mickey.

_Please send me reviews I would love the feedback!_


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